The Old Man | |
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Genre | |
Created by |
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Based on | The Old Man by Thomas Perry |
Starring | |
Composers | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 7 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Judd Rea |
Running time | 47–64 minutes |
Production companies |
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Distributor | Disney Platform Distribution |
Release | |
Original network | FX |
Original release | June 16, 2022 present | –
The Old Man is an American drama thriller television series based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Thomas Perry. It was developed by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine and premiered on FX on June 16, 2022.[2] The first season consists of seven episodes.[3] Following its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season.[4]
Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) is a former CIA operative who has been living off-the-grid in Vermont for thirty years. After killing an intruder who breaks into his home, Chase is forced into hiding. While in hiding, Chase rents a room from Zoe McDonald (Amy Brenneman), with whom he is forced to partner while on the run.
FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Harold Harper (John Lithgow) is called upon to bring in Chase because of their complicated past during the Soviet–Afghan War. Working alongside Harper are his proteges, FBI agent Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat; in fact Chase's daughter Emily) and CIA officer Raymond Waters (E. J. Bonilla), as well as Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe), a hit-man hired by Harper to kill Chase.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "I" | Jon Watts | Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 16, 2022 | 1CLE01 | 0.975[5] |
2 | "II" | Jon Watts | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 16, 2022 | 1CLE02 | 0.643[5] |
3 | "III" | Greg Yaitanes | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 23, 2022 | 1CLE03 | 0.821[6] |
4 | "IV" | Greg Yaitanes | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 30, 2022 | 1CLE04 | 0.904[7] |
5 | "V" | Zetna Fuentes | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | July 7, 2022 | 1CLE05 | 1.076[8] |
6 | "VI" | Jet Wilkinson | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | July 14, 2022 | 1CLE06 | 0.769[9] |
7 | "VII" | Jet Wilkinson | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | July 21, 2022 | 1CLE07 | 0.773[10] |
The series was announced in July 2019, with FX ordering a pilot with Jeff Bridges cast to star.[11] In September, Jon Watts was set to direct the pilot, also serving as an executive producer, with John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman added to the cast.[12][13] Alia Shawkat joined in October.[14] In November, Bob Iger announced that the show would air on FX on Hulu, and Austin Stowell was added to play a younger version of Bridges' character.[15][16] In February 2020, Kenneth Mitchell disclosed he had a role in the series.[17] Stowell would be recast in March 2020 with Bill Heck, and Gbenga Akinnagbe, Leem Lubany and E. J. Bonilla were cast in main roles.[18] Navid Negahban and Pej Vahdat were cast in recurring roles in December 2020.[19]
The series was two-thirds of the way into shooting when production shut down in mid-March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[20] Production resumed in the fall with three episodes remaining to film,[20] but was soon halted when Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in October 2020 and left to undergo cancer treatment.[21] The show stayed in production for a short period after Bridges' diagnosis in order to shoot scenes from the remaining episodes that do not feature Bridges' character.[20] In September 2021, Bridges announced his cancer was in remission. Production ultimately resumed in February 2022.[22] On June 27, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.[4]
The series premiered on June 16, 2022, on FX in the United States and Canada.[23][2] It was also premiered on Disney+ (Star) on July 13, 2022, in Australia and New Zealand and Star+ in Latin America.[24]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 59 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Old Man is just as intrepid and spiky—and derivative—as younger action heroes, with Jeff Bridges lending invaluable gravitas to this bone-crunching thriller."[25] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]
No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "I" | June 16, 2022 | 0.11 | 0.975[5] |
2 | "II" | June 16, 2022 | 0.08 | 0.643[5] |
3 | "III" | June 23, 2022 | 0.09 | 0.821[6] |
4 | "IV" | June 30, 2022 | 0.14 | 0.904[7] |
5 | "V" | July 7, 2022 | 0.12 | 1.076[8] |
6 | "VI" | July 14, 2022 | 0.10 | 0.769[9] |
7 | "VII" | July 21, 2022 | 0.12 | 0.773[10] |
According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, The Old Man was the most watched program across all platforms, during the week of June 24, 2022,[27][28] as well as during the week of June 29, 2022,[29] and during the week of July 2, 2022.[30] According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, The Old Man was the most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States, between June 1, 2022, and 30, 2022,[31] as well as during the week ending July 3, 2022,[32] and the third during the week ending July 17, 2022.[33]
For their performances in the first season of the series, Bridges and Lithgow received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical/Comedy or Drama Series respectively.[34]